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Observers: Tierney-Tisei race will continue in attack mode

By Katie Doyle Statehouse Correspondent

Updated:
10/15/2012 08:53:13 AM EDT

After this week's Round Two of the 6th Congressional District debates, political observers expect Democratic incumbent John Tierney and Republican challenger Richard Tisei to continue matching strategies of using guilt by association to drive voters away from their opponent.

Andrew E. Smith, a political scientist and director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said Tierney's biggest problem is high unfavorable ratings.

"The only thing he can really do to change those is to drive Tisei's unfavorable ratings up," Smith said.

Last Wednesday's debate, the second in a series of six planned between the two candidates, was largely a replay of themes that Tierney and Tisei's campaigns have been sounding during the race.

Tisei ads have hammered away at Tierney's connection to federal tax charges that sent his wife to jail. Tierney has sought to paint Tisei as a tea-party Republican.

Tierney was on the offense during the debate in Danvers, accusing his opponent of running the "sleaziest and most misleading" campaign, and turning his wife's legal troubles stemming from his in-laws' illegal gambling operation into an attack against Tisei.

"In order not to talk about that issue, you went out and attacked my wife and her family as a way to get to me," Tierney said. "If the issues were discussed, people would know you stood with the extremist Republican Party.

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Tisei responded by denying any affiliation to the tea party, calling himself a pro-choice legislator who supports gay marriage and wouldn't sign the Grover Norquist tax pledge, a Republican-backed opposition to tax increases.

Daniel Mulcare, a political scientist at Salem State University, said Tisei's attempt to position himself as a moderate works when he mentions his rejection of the Norquist tax pledge, but his opposition to Obamacare is an opportunity for Tierney to portray him as out of step with most people in Massachusetts.

"I think it's also important for Tierney to run on his own record and state what he has supported and why he has been, at least from his perspective, a good representative," Mulcare said. "I haven't seen that as of yet."

Mulcare said he thinks Tisei's campaign has been effective thus far, due in part to the relative conservatism of the 6th Congressional District and the family troubles that have haunted Tierney's campaign.

The district includes Billerica and Tewksbury.

"I think it's a race where Tierney is in a fair amount of trouble," Mulcare said. "This is definitely one of those races where the Republicans have a good shot of winning."

A Boston Globe survey of 371 likely voters in the district, conducted Sept. 21 to Sept. 27, found Tisei leading with 37 percent support, compared to Tierney's 31 percent. Thirty percent of voters remained undecided.

Smith, whose group conducted the poll, said the match-up is an opportunity for Tierney to cast Tisei in an unfavorable light, although it is rare for politicians to gain traction through debates, he said.

Smith added that he thinks the presidential election and the Senate race between Republican Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren is more likely to influence the race in the 6th Congressional District.

Both campaigns claimed a victory after Wednesday's debate.

Grant Herring, a Tierney spokesman, said he is confident that as more voters learn about where the candidates stand on the issues, they will see the choice is between Tisei's "support for the right-wing agenda" and Tierney's "16-year record of fighting for the middle class."

Paul Moore, a campaign manager for Tisei, said although the debate was "wild," it mirrored the first debate's themes, with Tierney attempting to tie Tisei to tea-party Republicans, while Tisei "talked about who he actually is."

Moore acknowledged Tierney's skill at laying down a "rapid fire of multiple charges," which is hard to tackle in a 30-second rebuttal.

"It does leave Richard a little flabbergasted after he hears some of those things, but I don't think any of those changes our strategy," Moore said. "It's actually what we expect with each debate."

Tierney and Tisei will debate again Wednesday, at 6 p.m., at North Andover High School.

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